3 she dogs and a puppy 7: The rose
by Fleppy85
Summary: A blue rose is the signature of a serial killer in Vegas. No matter what the teams tries, it seemed impossible to catch the killer and more people have to die


"Greg, call Cath."

"Why?" Greg's head popped up from behind a big box. He and Sara were at a crime scene, a dead woman in her house. When they arrived, the detective at the scene couldn't rule out suicide, so they started to work around the body, waiting for David to come around. After only a minute, Sara had called out for Greg.

"We're at a scene of her serial killer." Sara lifted a blue rose.

"Shit. Again?" They had four dead bodies within the last three weeks. They couldn't connect the victims, they were different ages, skin color, had different religious views, jobs and lived in different places of the city. One even lived twenty miles out of Vegas. The only thing that connected them was a blue plastic rose, that was left next to each body.

"He or she is busy."

"Any visible signs of the killing?"

"Like before, nothing on the outside. At least not, that I can see it." The other victims had been poisoned and Sara was willing to bet, this woman had been poisoned as well. So far the killer preferred strychnine.

Greg took his cell phone. It looked like he and Sara had to leave the crime scene to Cath. Or work for her.

"Cath, we've another blue rose."

Sara bagged the rose while Greg was on the phone. An ordinary blue plastic rose. They had found out, who manufactured it, a company in Mexico. So far there were three dozen of shops, that sell these roses, a dollar each. It was no surprise that the shop owner didn't have a credit card list with buyer of this item. The question Sara had in mind at the moment was, did the killer buy every rose separately or did he buy a packet? Cheaper by the dozen.

* * *

"Good evening, Misses Miller." Jules didn't need to lift her head to know, Sofia was on the door. Her last appointment for the day.

"Good evening, doctor Weinberg." Sofia closed the door and walked to the couch, waiting for Jules to finish on her report. It took the doctor only a few seconds and she was with a fresh tea and a cold can of coke on her way to Sofia.

"How are you?"

"Tired." Sofia worked the serial killer case and her last shift had ended around noon, left her five hours of sleep to be here in Jules' office on time. After her 'session' she was due in the department again.

"You look tired." Jules sat next to Sofia on an armchair.

"Whoever kills all these people doesn't leave a trace. Five victims. I can't remember the last time a serial killer got five victims."

"The miniature killer."

Sofia swallowed. Not a good example. "There were four dead bodies, not five."

"I didn't count Sara, Sofia." Jules voice was soft. She knew, she had hit a weak spot. Sofia felt responsible for Sara, felt responsible, that her friend had been abducted. And she felt responsible for the death of a fellow officer.

"The rocker, the old lady, the chicken man, Ernie Dell and the officer. They all died because of Natalie. Even she didn't mean to kill Ernie, she did by killing all the other people."

"She doesn't see it that way."

"No, she doesn't."

"Please switch the topic, I don't want to talk about these cases – even if this would be the perfect place to talk about them." Sofia knew, she had to close the cases for herself. She had to stop thinking of them in lonely hours, in times, she couldn't sleep.

"What would like to talk about?"

"Something nice…I've a date."

"Really? I can't remember I asked you out." Jules grinned.

"You did a few times, I always denied your wish."

"Right. So, who got the honor to be your date?"

"Brian."

"Do I know him?"

"Yes."

Jules tried to remember a Brian. They met so many people when they were out, a Brian didn't pop up.

"Help me out, please."

"He saw him only five minutes ago."

"Mister Miller?"

"Yes." Sofia had to laugh out loud. She, pretending to be a Misses Miller, had a date with a man, whose name was Mister Miller.

"Okay."

"Now is the best time to tell me, if he's a sociopath."

"I can't tell you why he's here."

"I know. He told me, he is here because he's a student and can't take exams. He hopes, you can help him out so he can take his final exams in three months."

"What did you tell him about you?"

"I've a problem with relationships."

"And he asked you out?"

"Yeah, said, it's like a test for both of us. For me, to meet somebody, for him, to learn how to handle pressure."

"You are pressure?"

"Looks like. I took it as a compliment. He seems to be a nice man."

"I can tell you, he's not a sociopath and he's very nice to me. I can't see anything bad in you seeing him – beside the fact, that my ego has to live with the knowledge, a patient gets a date with you while I got nothing."

"My friendship is nothing?" Sofia cocked her head.

"Your friendship is priceless. And I never said anything else or I'll get in trouble with my lovely girlfriend."

"Does she know you're still trying to get me?"

"No." Jules chuckled. "A double no. No, she doesn't know and no, I don't want you anymore. I'll lean back and look what will happen with you and Brian."

"We'll meet for dinner, it's not like…I don't know. It's not like I want to jump him. Okay, that's a bad example, you know I don't do that. I met him twice here, both times he was nice, we talked a bit and I think, he's a man, I can have a good conversation with. He knows, I've a relationship problem, so if he's smart, he will wait until I do anything. If he's not smart, I can forget him and go on living my life. I'm single, but my life isn't that bad. I'm quite happy with it."

"Good to know. What is with you and Sara?"

"Me and Sara?" Sofia tried not to swallow to obviously. What did Jules mean with this question? What did she know? What did Sara tell her? Did her friend and psychologist know that Sofia had told Sara, she wanted a relationship with her?

"The way you react I can see, there is something. It was an innocent question, Sofia. All I wanted to know was, are you both alright? In general. I haven't seen her the whole week."

"Ah, okay, yeah, she's fine. Guess, she's tired too, she found the last victim." Sofia hoped the topic was over with this.

"You don't want to tell me what you thought first?"

"Actually, no."

"Okay."

"It's not like Sara and me…okay, there's no reason to deny anything. Like you said, you can see there is something. Was something. After you asked me a few months ago if it's possible that I push men away because I want to be with a woman, I thought about that. I missed out a lot of sleep to come to an answer and when I thought of, what I want of my partner, what I expect, what I need to have in a relationship, I came up with a long list and at the end I almost got a heart attack when I thought, Sara does have all the things, I want from my partner. So I thought of being with her. I have never been with a woman, it was a weird thought first. Then I came to the point when I told myself, the sex of a person shouldn't be the important thing, all the other things on my list, are the things that are important to me. There was no reason not to give Sara a try. Beside the fact, that she didn't want.

I tell you, I tried really hard, I sneaked into her bed when we came back from dancing. Lucky me, she was naked, thought, it was you, who was in her bed. As soon as she realized it's me, she wanted to leave. I didn't let her go. We didn't have sex that night, she stopped us the last second, but I know now, why you endangered your job for her. Her lips are wonderful and I love her hands. Unfortunately I didn't get the whole program but she told me the next morning, she liked my lips and I'm a good kisser. Some ego boost. I made sure she knew, I wanted her, I would hit on her as long as she hasn't told me to back off. She told me exactly that the next day. Not what I had hoped for, but I promised I'd accept her decision. I did and I do. Now I'm glad we didn't do more than we did. Sara and me are better off as friends, I don't want to risk losing her because a relationship didn't work out.

Now you can tell me off for not telling you, for hitting on your ex and I don't know what else." Sofia looked at Jules, who had listened without a word and straight-faced. Sofia had no idea what was going on in the mind of her friend.

"There was a time when I also thought, Sara would be perfect for you. Then I realized, there's a similarity between your relationship to her and mine. We're better off being friends and not lover. It's possible to be a couple for a few months, but it won't work out for good. I think, you both made the right decision."

"She made the decision for us."

"You accept it. It's take only one person for an idea, but you need at least two people for a decision, that works out."

"It works out good. I'm still in her bed every now and then, we're really close, there's no reason to complain. Even if I don't understand what her last date had, that I don't have." Sofia furrowed her brows. Sara had seen a woman a couple of times but it never became something serious, they split after a month or two.

"She was a natural blonde", Jules offered grinning.

"Funny, very funny, doctor."

"Sara didn't end the relationship, Marian did. Or let's say, when Sara thought she couldn't make it to the club, Marian went alone, Sara managed to get the night off, went to the club and ran into her girlfriend, who was busy connecting her tongue with another woman. At the end Sara found out, Marian and this woman had a relationship since half a year. It was an on and off relationship, but they had never really been apart."

"She didn't tell me." Sofia felt sorry for her friend. Seeing your partner kissing somebody else was hard. Finding out, your partner betrayed you the whole time, was even worse.

"She thought, it reminds you too much of your past."

"It reminds me, that people are assholes."

"Not all of them."

"Yeah, the ones that are nice in our club or in a relationship with a member – a real monogamic relationship."

"Give Brian a chance."

"I do. What does he study, if you're allowed to tell me?"

"You didn't talk about that?"

"I didn't ask." There were a lot of things she didn't know, a lot of things she wanted to know.

"He'll tell you, you need something to talk about when you have your date, detective."

"We can talk about our therapist."

"What do you want to tell him about me?"

"I don't know. Maybe that I love talking to you, that you help me out all the time and that my real name isn't Misses Miller and I'm a friend of you more than a patient."

"He'll wonder why we don't meet anywhere else."

"Because I love your office and the couch." Sofia let herself fall backwards and closed her eyes. She wouldn't mind having a little sleep now instead of another at least twelve hours of work.

* * *

"We have five different victims, five different crime scenes and five roses, that are the same." Cath put the bagged roses on the table. The whole nightshift team was in the layout room. With them was Jules, who was asked to come in as a profiler. She had started to work this case after they found the second body.

"Anything that connects the victims?" Grissom looked at Warrick, who was in charge of that area.

"Nothing. I checked them from kindergarten to high school, college, university, work places, sport, nothing. Two are not born in Vegas, the other three went to different schools, two have played tennis, but not in the same team, never played against each other. They didn't shop at the same supermarket, they didn't have the same car dealer, the same hair dresser. Nothing popped up. Not even one match."

"What about handy men? Post men? Any other kind of service people?"

"Nothing." Nick said. "Three were clients of the same electricity company, but seventy-five percent of all people in Vegas are clients there. I asked for the names of the people, who came to their house, not the same. Two vics had for a short while the same postman, but he has never been to the other areas."

"The killer poisons his victims, anything about the poison?"

"Every vic had more strychnine in their system to kill a horse. The killer wanted to make very sure, that they won't survive." Greg had stayed a few hours in the lab to work on the tox reports.

"There were no injection marks on any victim, so doc Robbins assumes, they ate or drink it." Sara leant on the table. She and doc Robbins had examined every inch of the victims twice and couldn't find anything, that suggest a needle or any other way the tox had entered the body than the mouth.

"Somebody kills five random people, no visible connection between them. The only two things that tell us, it's the same killer are the fact, it's always strychnine and the blue plastic rose he leaves behind. Jules, what do you make with that?" Grissom asked Jules, who stood a little bit aside and just listened to the things, the other people were talking. She usually stayed quiet and listened to everybody instead of talking herself.

"A blue rose stands for unrealizable desire, a craving, you can't satisfy, an always repeating dream, the impossible thing. But also for the power of the human soul, to try to get all these things, no matter what. It's a symbol of peace, of love at first sight. They are believed to be able to grant the owner youth or grant wishes."

"So a blue rose basically is something positive? How can it be that they are connected with five dead bodies?"

"I can only speculate about that, I'm sorry."

"It's the best and the only thing we have on our killer. A blue plastic rose. And a town with hundreds of check-out people, shop owner and clerks anywhere, who are told to call the police as soon as somebody purchases a blue plastic rose and isn't willing to leave his details behind." Grissom put his glasses down.

"If the killer hasn't bought them in advance and if everybody cooperates with LVPD." Cath didn't believe they would get the killer this way. Too many shops. Too many people, who didn't care, who didn't want some extra work.

Jules cell phone rang.

"If the blue rose stands for love, maybe the killer and his victims were involved." Sara guessed.

"I can't see somebody, who has a sexual relationship with a twenty year old man also having the same kind of relationship with a seventy-nine year old woman. The age gap is too big." Warrick shook his head.

"Depends on how you look at it. Let's say the killer is maybe fifty. He had a crush on his teacher when he was in kindergarten, that could be the old lady. He also was in love with a man in college, that would be the young man. If all these victims reminds him or her of a person, he or she was in love with during his or her life, the roses makes sense." Sara knew it was a weird explanation, but they had enough weird cases to know, there was nothing, that wasn't possible anymore.

"Jules?" Grissom expected a comment of the profiler.

"Possible." Jules put her cell phone away. "Love isn't always sexual, it can be the killer never had sex with any of these five people but they meant something to him or her."

""And if the killer is a pizza delivery guy, he or she sees the whole city because they change their jobs all the time. Give it a few months, years and our killer has seen the whole city. Plenty of changes to find the victims." Nick was frustrated. Five dead bodies and nothing they could do.

"Promise me not to get mad." Jules whispered into Sara's ear.

"Why?" She looked at her friend, who only looked at her. "Okay." What did Jules plan? Why should Sara get mad?

"We need to re-run everything again. The evidence, the connections, the bodies. There must be something, that connects the victims with their killer and we'll find it." Grissom ordered.

"Wrong, we will find it."

Everybody turned around. Three men in black suits and two woman, also in black suits entered the room. There was no need for them to introduce themselves, everybody in the room knew, who they were. Federal Bureau of Investigation. The Feds had arrived.

"Special Agent Copper, we'll take it from here."

"I don't think so." Grissom responded.

"It doesn't matter what you think, we'll take over."

"This is our case, we're working it."

"Wrong, you worked it. Now we'll work it. You had your chance, all you have are five dead bodies and a serial killer on the lose. We can't risk more victims because you can't handle the case. This is now a FBI investigation, doctor Grissom."

"I think, we should take this in my office. Catherine?"

"I'm with you, Grissom."

"We can talk, but I have to tell you, your people are not allowed to touch the evidence anymore. It's our evidence, we're in charge."

"We'll see about that. My team will stay here with the evidence."

"So will my team." One of the women followed agent Copper and Grissom out of the room, the other three stayed.

Now Sara knew why Jules had asked her not to get mad. She knew the FBI was on it's way. Like she knew, Sara and the rest of the team got mad when somebody wanted to take their case away.

What Sara knew was, that Jules was talking to the woman, who stayed in the room. Not with words, with looks. Nina. She had sent Jules the text, warning her. Now they were talking to each other without using words. They didn't need words, all they had to do was look at each other.

Just like Sara, Greg knew about Nina and just like Sara, he knew, the two profiler didn't need to speak to talk to each other. He saw the looks, he saw the respond of the other woman, he had no idea, what they meant. But he wouldn't say a word. It wasn't his business, he had to trust Jules not to endanger their case and he trusted her. And he trusted Nina. The profiler with the long brown corkscrew curls wasn't the enemy, the other two men in the room were.

Sara wondered if they had to stand here for a long time. There was no way they left the FBI alone with their evidence, but maybe she could sneak out and hide some evidence. In case they had to back off. Of course they listed their evidence, she needed to 'work' on the list as well. The problem was, if she got caught, not only she would be in trouble, but also the whole team.

They stood in the room for around fifteen minutes until Grissom, Cath and the two other were back. Grissom's face was stoic, Cath looked angry and the two agent wore the same smug smile like before.

"We need to give everything we found so far to the FBI." It was obvious Grissom hated to say these words.

"We're not allowed to work the case anymore?" Nick didn't want to believe that.

"It's our case, man." Warrick supported him.

"We will continue our work, but we will share everything we have so far with the FBI. They'll investigate too. Together we can get the killer faster."

Sara doubted, Grissom believed the words he said. She was sure, he had called the Sheriff and the Sheriff told him to cooperate.

* * *

A hand got placed on Sara's shoulder. She didn't need to turn to know, who was behind her.

"What did you talk about with Nina?"

"We didn't say a word." Jules sat next to Sara.

"I didn't say that. You don't need words to talk."

"She's sorry that she has to bother us, but her boss wanted the case. Five dead bodies, it was a question of time until the Feds had enough."

"I know." Sara closed her eyes. "What about you and Nina?"

"We won't work together. She'll work with the FBI, I'll work with the LVPD."

"Will it be a problem for you?"

"No. We won't talk about the case as soon as we're off the clock. Thanks god there are other things in life we can talk about than dead bodies."

"She'll get the order to get information."

"She has the order. She isn't only here to see the evidence, to make a profile, she also has to make sure, you guys don't hold back information."

"Thought so. I hate it when people try to get into my head."

"Sara…"

"It's nothing against Nina, you know I like her, I trust her. I meant that in general. I also hate it when you're in my head and you're there all the time."

"Somebody has to clean up the mess." Jules smiled softly.

"A genius can handle chaos."

"And a strong and confident woman can take some help."

"Don't try to play me, Jules."

"When I do, you know it, so it's okay. Don't work too long, Sara. Let the Feds do something."

"And let them catch the killer? Let them tell the whole world, they managed to get him within a day while LVPD was too stupid and chased a shadow for weeks? No way. Their appearance is an extra motivation, I won't stop until we have the guy. We, not the FBI. No matter what it takes."

Jules sighed. She was afraid Sara would say something like that. The whole team shared her feelings towards the FBI and was willing to work more than it was good for them. Nobody wanted the FBI to find the killer and look bad.

* * *

"I hate it when Grissom does things like that." Sara felt like kicking something. Or someone. She had quite a few ideas whom she wanted to kick first, actually the list wasn't short at the moment.

"But he is right, we'll miss important clues if we're too tired." Greg got his arms around Sara and pulled her in his arms. He wasn't happy to be send away either, but he saw the point of his supervisor. The FBI was working their evidence, was all over the scenes and every step they make, they could be sure, somebody was following them.

"We won't find the killer when we're at home and sleep." The only thing they did that way, was leaving the field to the Feds.

"First we'll eat something, than we can sleep." He let go of Sara and walked back to the barbecue to turn the meat and the tofu.

"I'm not hungry."

"You'll eat, like it or not."

"Do you want to force me, Greg?"

"If he doesn't, I will." Sofia came on the balcony. She looked as unhappy and tired as the rest of them.

"Mind your own business."

Greg looked at Sofia. "It's your turn to tell her, she is our business. I did that last time."

"Sara, you are our business. Like it or not. It's written in the contract, you signed it."

"Since when do you know what's written in this imaginary contract?"

"Since I read it to know if really everybody has to have sex with you to be in the club. Stop being grumpy at us, we're not the enemy, we're your friends. You can go on and be a pain in the ass the next nine hours, you're not allowed to be in the lab, or you can try to relax, eat something with us and sleep a few hours."

"Who sent you home?"

"Brass after an order of the Undersheriff. I believe they want us to cooperate so that they can say at the end, in cooperation with the FBI, LVPD was able to catch the killer. The Sheriff wants some photos with important people, the FBI fits perfect to this."

"I hate politics." Sara took a bottle of beer and sat on her chair. She was still grumpy and mad, but it was better now.

"You hate everything and everybody right now." Jules came with the salad out on the balcony and grinned.

"Almost everybody and everything. Want to be on that list, doc?"

"I never stay there for a long time."

"Why can't you get into the head of the killer and tell us, where to find him? Or her."

"I'm not a psychic."

"What can you tell us about the killer?" Sofia sat next to Greg.

"You know my reports."

"I do. And I know, there are things, you didn't write in your report. You only write down facts, the things you believe, are not in there. We want to hear about these things. Do you think it's a man or a woman?"

"Whatever I think you can't take as evidence."

"I believe in you and your conclusions."

Jules rolled her eyes. She wasn't a fan of sharing her ideas about killers, if she didn't have anything, that made her ideas and conclusions reliable. So far, there wasn't enough of the killer to have a good profile.

"Serial killers are likely to be men. However, we all know, there are women too and I think, we're dealing with a woman. Flowers are more likely be left by a woman than a man."

"There was a serial killer thirty years ago in Alberta, he left flowers with his victims. Black lilies."

Sara looked up. She hadn't know Nina was around. "You're done with the evidence?"

Nina smiled a bit. "Want me to leave, Sara?"

"I didn't say that."

"No you didn't. You're surprised I'm here, would you prefer when I leave? Do you want to talk about the case without me? In case I'll tell my boss what you guys talk about."

"If you believe I think that of you, you're not worth the money the FBI is paying you." Sara shot back.

"So far the FBI knows everything we know." Jules took Nina's hand. "We're all not happy with the situation right now."

"No, it's not a nice situation. I tell you guys, my boss knows we're friends and he wants me to find out, if you wrote everything down, if you report all the new findings. I told him, I won't spy on my friends."

"We haven't held anything back." Greg said. "We were talking about what could be, not what is. Working a theory. Can the FBI promise to do the same? Tell us everything they found out?"

"We all know, that won't happen."

"Right now we're even. We could all together fantasize about a theory", Jules offered. "And I make sure, the FBI isn't trying to get information out of you with dirty psychiatrist and profiler tricks." She blinked at Nina to make it obvious to everybody, that she was joking. She knew, her girlfriend would keep things, Sara, Sofia and Greg told her in private, keep out of her job.

"You think, you're good enough to know that? I can use tricks, you don't know."

"There are no tricks I don't know of. We went to Quantico together, I know all the things you know."

"I work with a lot of good FBI profiler, they showed me some tricks, they didn't teach us. Plus the advantage of being a psychiatrist and not a psychologist."

"That makes you better?"

"Sure, I'm a real doctor."

"I'm not a real doctor?"

"No, you're a doc Psy.D. That's short for pseudonym doctor."

"Careful, Honey."

"A real doctor is a M.D., Dear."

"Are you challenging me?"

"Yes."

"If you want to fight, you both leave my balcony and me apartment immediately." Sara spoke up. "I won't allow any kind of fight here, do you understand me?" She looked at both women.

"We don't fight, we're working on a challenge."

"Challenges end up too easily in fights. Make up your mind if you want to go on with this ridiculous challenge or if you want to behave like grown-ups."

"The good thing is I don't have to give in, Jules won't dare to go on because you told her to stop." Nina grinned. "She doesn't dare to upset you. You're her weakness."

"Sara isn't a weakness, she's a strength. But yes, I won't go on, I don't do things that upset my best friend. Especially when she's right – when did you become the sensible one of our group?"

"When you left your brain in your office and Greg and Sofia are too busy eating and waiting for a catfight."

"Sorry, it's not our fault that your veggie stuff needs so long." Sofia said between two bites. "I would offer you some steak, but I know the answer."

"And I prefer to eat than talking about the case; to be honest." Greg said. "I'll work and think about the case later for sixteen hours or so in a row. Call me not dedicated, but I think, I need some time out."

"I call you very sensible for thinking that, Greg." Jules smiled at her friend.

"Thanks doc. But you can go ahead and talk about the blue rose killer."

"Blue rose killer? Did you just name the guy?" Nina asked.

"We call him that since we found the second vic. And no, it's not in the reports because we didn't want to give him or her an official name. That motivates them only when something like that leaks to the press. I'm sure you FBI guys will come up with your own name."

"Because I agree with Jules about the sex of our killer I think, blue rose killer suits her."

"Hah, we got some information from the FBI. Their profiler thinks, the killer is female. We can use that." Sofia grinned.

"Want to have some more information, Sofia?"

"Sure." If she could get anything, that helped her to catch the killer, she took it. No matter if the information came from the FBI, the press or a member of the LVPD.

"You've got some ketchup in the corner of your mouth." Nina laughed and got the rest to join her.

* * *

"Sssh!"

Sofia turned. There was this strange noise again. She had ignored it twice, not it was louder and seemed to be very close.

"What the…" She saw Sara, hidden behind a menu of the diner. "What are you doing?"

"I try to escape the Feds."

"If they have somebody following you, he'll be outside, in a way you won't see him." Sofia sat across from her friend.

"Do you think they have people following us?"

"No. And if you believe so, you should talk to Jules – as a patient. You might be paranoid."

"Don't trust the Feds."

"Okay, you've got a point on that. Thanks." Sofia smiled at the waiter, who brought her her coffee.

"Any new leads?"

"No. Brass sent me to another scene last night, a 419 not related to the serial killer. Said, with the Feds in town we can concentrate on other cases."

"Brass said that?"

"Yes."

"There was a Fed around?"

"Yes." Sofia grinned. Her official order was to work on new cases, unofficial she was still working on the blue rose killer.

"They drive me nuts. They are everywhere. Wherever we go, they're already there. They talk to the press, they talk to people, they mess the whole investigation up."

"Yeah. I don't think it's good what they're doing. Not because they're the Feds, take away our case and want us to look bad, but with them in town, with all the fuss they make about the case, the killer gets an ego boost. The blue rose killer is all over the TV, after every song, you can hear something about him on the radio, it's too much. They force this guy into a new killing to give them a new show."

"Woman."

"I beg your pardon?"

"Both of our profiler said, it's more likely we're dealing with a woman."

"Our profiler?" Sofia cocked her head.

"Fed or not, it's Nina, she belongs to us. She's a great profiler and when she and Jules say, our killer is female, I believe them."

"True. I'm glad the FBI hasn't mention that on TV."

"They are not complete idiots."

"No, some parts are still missing."

Sara chuckled. "You know what scares me?"

"Not a lot of things." Sofia took Sara's hand. She hoped, Sara wasn't scared by the thought of the serial killer being a woman. She hoped, Sara didn't think as much of Natalie and what she did to Sara, as Sofia did.

"Actually, there are a lot of things, that can scare me. I try not to show it."

"You have a detective, who takes care of you if you let her. So tell me, what can I chase away? What scares you? Or who?"

"The thought of the serial killer disappearing because the fuss is too much for her. What, if she takes off, leaves the state and goes on with her killings somewhere else? Maybe without the rose. We might never find her."

"We'll find her. No matter if we or the FBI, but she'll be found."

"This case makes me think of Natalie."

Sofia bit her lips. She knew it. Of course Sara was reminded of the miniature killer, of course she got reminded of her night under the car, of course she got confronted with the fact, that she almost died.

"Are you alright?"

"Yes. I think. Had some nightmares last night, but I can handle it."

"Want some company tonight?"

"Are you free?"

"Yeah, surprisingly a space opened just a second ago. I mean, I've to shift all the other people, who are in my bed usually, but I'll manage somehow." Sofia laughed. It wasn't like her bed was a place with a revolving door. It was more like she was selling heater in the middle of the summer in the desert.

"Thanks."

"You're welcome. I like being in your bed."

"I like having you in my bed; as long as you don't wear my sleep shirt."

"You don't have to hide your body under a shirt, it's perfect."

"Shut up." Sara laughed a bit. Another she liked about Sofia was, she made her laugh and got her distracted from bad thoughts.

* * *

"Wow!"

Sara heard the word, but wasn't willing to open her eyes. She was tired, she wanted to sleep, she didn't feel like getting up, she…she moaned. Something heavy fell on her. Or somebody.

"Let me be in the middle!" Her blanket got pulled away and she felt how Jules climbed over her to get herself in between Sara and Sofia.

"This must be a nightmare." Sara heard the blonde complain. "What the hell is happening here? Is there some kind of war?"

"In between dreams." Jules got her arms around Sara and Sofia. "If I die now I'll die as the happiest person on earth. I'm in the middle between you and Sara, it's not war, it's a dream come true."

"You said something about dying, I don't know how Sara feels, but I feel like killing at the moment."

"I'm not disinclined of killing a certain psychologist."

"You can't expect me to stay out of this bed when you're both in it." Jules kissed both women on their cheeks.

"Maybe we don't want you in this bed." Sara tried.

"Maybe we don't want you between us. Maybe I want to be in Sara's arms and not in your arms."

"Ouch, that was mean, detective. Very mean. That sounds like you don't love me anymore."

"Right now I hate you."

"Is that a kind of ménage a trois?" Nina appeared in the door frame, looking at her girlfriend and the two other women.

"It was a perfect, it was a very good sleep until your girlfriend made the decision, she has to jump in and lay between. We didn't invite her, we don't want her here, she doesn't care. Could you get her out of here, please. She's your girlfriend, she should share a bed with you and not with us." Sara asked Nina. Her bed wasn't big enough for three people and Jules had woken her up. Not that she wasn't due to get up, but she didn't want to. She wanted another five minutes in peace.

"Jules?"

"Oh come on, you can't really ask me to leave the bed."

"I'll count to five."

"The Count, I liked him."

"One…

"Nina, are you really seri…"

"Two."

"Shit."

"Three."

"Alright, I'll leave." Jules climbed over Sara out of the bed. "Spoilsport."

"Thanks." Sara turned and snuggled into Sofia's arms. "I hate it when she wakes me up like this."

"Don't try to pretend that you and the blonde have something going on. I don't believe that, you're only pretending."

"Jealous?" Sofia blinked at Jules.

"Yes. No. Maybe. I don't know. I should shut up and leave."

"That's a very good idea, Dear." Nina grabbed Jules' arm and pulled her out of the room.

"She's nuts." Sara sighed.

"She lived for a few seconds in a dream." Sofia pulled Sara closer in her arms. "We made her the happiest woman on earth for a minute or so. That should make us happy and proud. Not many people can give this happiness to somebody else."

"I try to concentrate on that and not on the fact, that she climbed over me, elbowed her way between us and behaved like a pasha."

"Yes, concentrate on the positive things. But I'm sure, Jules is always a positive part of your life, no matter how crazy she is."

"Yes."

"See. How did you sleep?"

"No nightmare, you're good."

"That's what I want to hear after a night with you."

Sara snorted. "Sure thing, lover-girl."

When Sofia tried to sound like she heard everyday from somebody else, that she was good, it was ridiculous. At least with the knowledge, Sara had of the blonde. It was easy to take Sofia for these kind of woman, but the truth was something else.

"You have no idea what you're missing out. There are so many things you'll never experience because you sent me away. And now it's too late."

"I could change my mind and make you fall for me again."

"No."

"Are you daring me?"

"I'm telling you, I've a date. Not with you. Your chance is over, I'll give somebody else a try. You've to live with being nothing more than my friend."

"Who's your date?" Not that Sara was jealous, but the information that Sofia had a date, rang a bell. She hoped, the blonde was about to meet somebody, who accept a no and didn't try to force her into something.

"I might tell you sooner or later."

"Do you keep a secret of me?"

"Yes."

"Does your therapist know?"

"That I've a date? Yes. She also knows with whom. And she knows. I won't tell you."

"Mean!"

"That's why she's the therapist. She's there that I can unload all my secrets."

"Friends are there for these things too."

"Nice try. You've be patient until I tell you."

"Nice guy?"

"I hope so."

"If not, he'll be very sorry. I'll give him a lot of pain."

"It's the detective, who takes care of the CSI, not the other way around."

"It's not a work thing. You take care of me while we're working, I take care of you when we're off duty. That's the deal."

"I think I can live with this deal." Sofia smiled. Waking up like this was a good way to start a new day.

"Good." Sara got serious. "Will he accept?"

"I think so. He knows about my problem with men and dates."

"You told him?"

"Yes. And he didn't laugh, didn't make any jokes about it and still wants to meet me for some dinner."

"Sounds like he isn't an idiot and I don't have to stick around to make sure, you're alright."

"No, you don't. Thanks." Sofia smiled. Sara was cute, she worried and wanted to make sure, Sofia was safe. Maybe she would tell her soon who her date was.

* * *

Being officially not in charge for the blue rose killer anymore gave the night shift time to work other crime scene again. Not that they wanted it that way, but they had to stay away, show a low profile, and do their job, as the Sheriff asked them to do. Greg and Sara had a robbery in the north of the city to solve last night.

"Griss, we're done." It was only slightly after their ordinary work time when Sara went into Grissom's office.

"You closed your case?"

"Yes, all done, the suspect confessed, the DA is with him, we wrote our reports, the evidence is cataloged."

"Signed, sealed, delivered, he's done." Greg appeared and smiled widely. He liked it when they closed a case in one night. That made him feel like he did a good job, was successful.

"Well done. You can…" The phone rang and Grissom answered.

Sara and Greg looked at each other. Were they free to leave? Should they stay until Grissom war done with his call?

"Yes…yes…no…somebody will be there…"

That didn't sound like they could go home. Actually, every case that came in now, was a case for day shift, there was no reason why they should stay.

"I need the two of you to take a drive out in the desert."

"The desert?" That sounded like a double. Sara wasn't happy about that. "Why can't day take that case? It's their time, we're off."

"They found a blue plastic rose."

"Where?" The serial killer was back? In that case they didn't care about what time it was. It was their case and if there was the possibility to look the FBI over their shoulders, they'd take it.

"Take the 160, ten miles after Mountain Springs, turn right, there's only one street. You'll see the Feds."

"I guess they'll make such a fuss about everything, we'll see them as soon as we leave Las Vegas behind. What about you?"

"I'll stay here."

"Why?"

"Because, we're not in charge and me being at the scene, could give the Feds the wrong impression and us a lot of trouble with the Sheriff. Not that I usually mind, in this case I don't think it helps. The press is all over us, they'll pick it up and bring it big in the news and our killer will use it. If it helps to stop the killer, I'll play politics – officially."

"Alright." Sara wasn't sure if she understood why he stayed, but it was Grissom, you don't always have to understand him.

"Is any other friend there?" Greg asked.

"Greg, the Feds ARE our friends, didn't you know?" Grissom cocked his head.

"Right. No cops?"

"The highway patrol, no LVPD. The Feds have their own people."

"Okay, we'll have a look – or maybe even more, depends on how nice the Feds are."

"Good luck, keep me posted."

"We will."

They got their kits and walked to the car. Like always it was Sara, who took the steering wheel while Greg tried to find out on a map, where they had to go.

"I'm not quite sure if there's a real road, it looks more like a dirt road."

"In that area a dirt road is a real road. It's a nice place if you want to go hiking."

"Have you been out in that area?"

"Once or twice. It's a dead end road, perfect if you want some quiet time."

"I'll keep that in mind if I want to take Janet out for a picnic under stars."

"Romantic."

"That's me." He grinned.

Sara took a look at the GPS. They weren't too far away from the place, they had to turn right. Sara wondered what was waiting for them. Was it their killer? Or did they have their first copy cat? LVPD had never mentioned something about the blue plastic rose, the question was, did the FBI keep this lead quiet or did they tell the press? Sara hadn't read anything in the papers, but she didn't read the paper at the moment. She took it inside, had a short look over the headlines and that was all. She had no time to read the paper in detail.

"There's the dirt road." Greg pointed to the little road.

"Keep your eyes open for the Feds."

"Just follow the bright star."

"You mean, skid marks."

"Didn't I say that?"

"Kind of." They both knew they had to be polite when they arrived at the crime scene. It wasn't their scene, they were only guests, if they were lucky, they were allowed to help, to search for evidence.

"I can see the light." Sara saw some FBI cars with flashing lights.

"My mom always says, I'm not supposed to go to the light."

"I'm afraid you have to disappoint your mommy now, Greggo. We'll go to the light, it's where the action is."

"Says mommy moth to her baby before they get smashed by a shoe."

Sara smiled a bit. She loved her Greg for many things, one thing was his humor, that helped her through a lot of things.

They parked their car behind the cars of the FBI and got out. The crime scene seemed to be down a slope. Their badges got them through the crime scene tape. So far, the FBI seemed to play fair, let them in. The question was, how far in were they allowed?

Sara's cell phone rang. She looked at the display, it was Grissom.

"I'll follow you in a second." Sara didn't want to walk around with Grissom on the phone.

"Okay." Greg walked on while Sara stepped a few steps back to get some more privacy.

"Griss?"

"Are you at the scene?"

"Just arrived."

"Any problems?"

"So far we were allowed to be here, no trouble, but I haven't seen the actual scene yet. It's down a slope and up here is everything filled up with FBI cars. The press is there, I'm waiting for a helicopter."

"They wanted to keep it low."

"Maybe this is low for them."

"Maybe. The Sheriff is on his way out there, bear that in mind, whatever you do there."

"Don't you trust me?" She had to chuckle.

"I know you."

"Thanks."

"Good luck and give me a call when you've something new."

"Will do." She finished the call. Bear in mind the Sheriff is on his way out there. What did Grissom mean with that? Sara didn't plan to talk to him, in fact, she wanted to avoid this man. He had given away their case to have a FBI cooperation for his next election. Damn stupid politics.

When Sara saw the actual crime scene she forgot to breathe. Pictures came back in her head. Pictures of something, that she had been through years ago. Something she didn't see. She couldn't see but in her dreams, she saw the scene and it looked like this. This couldn't be true, this had to be a nightmare. She wasn't in the desert, she was in bed. Hopefully somebody would wake her up soon.

Around twenty feet under her was a car, upside down. A dozen FBI agents were walking around the car, taking photos, looking for evidence. All Sara saw was an arm. An arm of a person, she couldn't see. The only visible thing was this arm, the rest was under the car. Just like she had been when Natalie caught her. Brought her in the desert. Put her under a car, left her there to die. Drowning in the heavy rain of the night, killed by coyotes, slowly drying out in the hot and merciless sun. This must have been how it looked when she was the victim. This must have been what Natalie saw before she left Sara alone to die. Injured.

Sara didn't notice the hand on her arm, she didn't hear somebody saying her name. She was shocked, stared at the scene, was unable to react in any way. Like a rabbit in front of a snake. Standing there, waiting that something happened. Something bad. Something, she couldn't change because she couldn't react.

"Sara!" The voice got louder. It was still gently, but loud enough to get into Sara's head.

"What?"

"Are you alright?" Nina. Of course she was here, she had to see what the killer had done, had to get more piece of her profile puzzle. And of course she had seen Sara, had noticed, that the brunette investigator was frozen and stared at the scene.

"No…yes…I…can handle it." How much did Nina know? Had Jules told her about Sara's night in the desert?

"Do you want a minute?"

"No!" They were at a scene, she didn't need Nina to baby her, to make it obvious to everybody, that she had lost it for a second. Minute? Sara had no idea.

"I'm not asking as a profiler, Sara, I'm asking as a friend."

"We both have jobs to do." Sara wanted shake off the hand and walk away. She wanted to tell Nina to leave her alone. But she knew, it would be wrong. "Thanks for asking." She managed a little smile.

Nina looked into Sara's eyes for a second or two. She could see, something was wrong, she saw the pain and she knew, something here had remembered Sara of something bad.

"Okay." Nina took her hand away and Sara started to climb down the slope. She had to get the pictures out of her head, she had to focus on the case. The case, she was working on now, not a case, that had been closed a long time ago.

Greg stopped talking to a man when he saw her. His eyes on her, he walked to her, shielding her from the scene with his back. He had used a few more seconds to realize, this scene looked similar to Sara's scene.

"Sara…"

"Don't, Greg. Not now. Focus on the case. What did the Feds tell you? Are we allowed to work the scene?"

"Their own people work the scene down here, we can have a look around, but have to keep a certain distance to the car. In this case I think it's a good idea."

"It isn't. The most important evidence is around the car, under the car." Sara didn't want to stay away because of her past. She wanted to work her case, she wanted to do a good job.

"We'll work around it, if there's anything, we'll find it."

She wanted to argue, wanted to be around the car, but she knew, there was no way, they let her go there. It didn't help if she started a fight with Greg – beside the fact that he won't let them fight. Greg was too smart to say or do anything that gave Sara anything to pick on, to start an arguing.

"Okay." Did she have another choice? Not if she didn't do anything stupid.

* * *

For over two hours Sara and Greg walked around the center of the crime scene. A few skid marks was all they found. The body was long gone, a tow truck was about to take the car away, their colleagues of the FBI were busy bagging evidence from under the car.

"It's ridiculous that we're not allowed to work the car." Sara threw an angry look at some agents a few yards away, who were too busy to notice her.

"We don't have much."

"We've got nothing." She straightened her back. Kneeing down and bending over for nothing. Wasted time and energy.

"Shall we go back?"

"Yeah, the only thing we can do is waiting until they go and allow us to search the area they've walked through and over for a dozen times."

"We're good, we'll find something." He sent her a smile. That was Greg, also trying to get Sara in a good mood, to make her smile, make her happy.

"Of course, the problem is, I doubt, they're so bad, that they'll not see the obvious clues."

"Didn't you want to go to the Feds at one point in your past?"

"Yes, a few years ago, I wasn't too long in Vegas then." She was so annoyed with Grissom, saw no reason to stay because she doubted, he would ever have an eye for her. At the end she stayed, which was the best decision she ever made. She became close to Greg, she met Jules and Sofia, all very important people in her life, she didn't want to miss.

"Whatever made you change your mind – and I like to believe it was me – I'm very happy you stayed. Otherwise you could be there, working the scene under the car and I had to hate you for that. I mean, not that it's possible for me to hate you for anything, but…Sara?" Greg noticed that he was talking but Sara's eyes and attention where somewhere else. Not at the place where the car had been, Sara was looking further away.

"Greg, what day is today?"

"Wednesday."

"Public holiday? School holiday?"

"No." Why was she asking strange questions like that? He tried to follow her eyes. Sara was watching an area around a mile away, on a little hill. Suddenly he saw a little blink for less than a second.

"What was that?"

"My guess, binoculars. And now tell me, Greg, why should somebody watch us?"

"Maybe he saw people walking around and wanted to know what's going on", Greg started carefully.

"Or?"

"Or the killer watches what we do with his work. Her work."

"Could be too." Sara's eyes blinked. She had an idea. "Shall we have a look?"

He understood and smiled. "Of course. It's our job." They took their kits and walked up the slope. No need to tell the Feds what they had seen. It could be nothing more than an innocent hiker, who was wondering, what was going down here. But it could be the killer, watching them working the scene, as well. Why not take the chance? And why tell anybody of this? They could make their own observations.

"Sara?" Nina's voice stopped them before they jumped in their car.

"Yes?"

"Can you guys give me a lift back to the department?"

Sara and Greg exchanged a look. Back to the department? That wasn't their plan. But they couldn't say what they were about to do, too many FBI agents were around. And tell Nina, they wanted to go anywhere else? Where? Everybody knew, their shift was over and when they leave the scene, they go back to the lab.

"Sure. We just need to stop somewhere first."

"That's alright."

Greg bit on his lips. Without looking at Nina he got on the passenger seat, thankful that the profiler sat behind him and couldn't see his face.

Sara started the car. She had no real idea how to get to the little hill, there had to be another dirt road, but they had to get back to the main road, at least far enough that nobody noticed, where they were about to go to.

None of the three said a word for the first minute. When Sara couldn't see the crime scene anymore in her rearview mirror, she looked for a way to get to their new destination. There was no road, so she grabbed the steering wheel and got the car off the road.

"What are you doing?" Nina asked. She was shook around on the backseat and could find no reason, why Sara drove of the street.

"I told you, we need a stop before we can go back to the department."

"I thought of a coffee or anything like that."

"Kind of."

"Where are we going?"

"Scared?"

"I trust you, Sara. Can you say the same to me?"

Sara was quiet for a second, looked in the rearview mirror, found Nina's eyes. There was no anger, no disappointment, no criticism.

"When we were about to pack our stuff and go back to the car when we noticed something blinking from a hill around a mile away. It looked like somebody was there with binoculars."

"Could be an innocent hiker, who wanted to know, what was going on." Nina said.

"Yes."

"Or the killer watching us."

"Yes."

"And you didn't want to bother the FBI with that?"

"No, like you said, it could be an innocent hiker." Sara smiled thinly. Even if she would be sure, it was the killer, who was up on the hill, there was no way she told that the FBI. It was their case, their killer and they would handle it.

Nina took her cell phone out of the pocket.

"What? Are you going to call your colleagues?"

Nina ignored Sara. "It's me, Nina. Where are you?" She listened for a second. "You know where I am?" It seemed like whoever was talking to Nina approved. "Good. No, not to the scene, there's a hill, around a mile in the south-east, can you come there? I've no idea if there's a road, we're off road right now." Nina looked for some evidence of a road but there was nothing. Only sand and stones. "Possible suspect on the hill, could be the killer, somebody was watching us. No, no. Yes. Alright, I'll try. Bye."

Sara's eyes were on the rearview mirror. She didn't want to believe what her imagination was making out of this.

"Trust, huh?"

"We're told to stay in the car and not to get the suspect alone."

"Tell you agents, I don't give a fuck what they want."

"That's something you can tell your detective yourself." Nina's voice was calm.

"What?"

"You heard me."

"Who did you call?"

"Not my colleagues. Oh well, in my eyes, we're all colleagues because we're on the same side of the fence, but I know, you don't see it like that. I called Sofia, I knew you won't like it if I ask an agent to back us up. She'll come here, wants us to stay safe in the car."

"We won't wait half an hour until she's here, if the killer is up there, we have no time."

"I knew you'd say that. Greg?"

"Sofia knows that too, she doesn't really expects us to wait. She said that because it's her job to say something like that."

"No, she doesn't believe we'll wait."

"Do you have a gun? Or are you only armed with your ability to read people's mind and see what they'll do?"

"Profiler, Sara, not psychic. And yes, I've my gun with me."

"Good. You'll secure the scene, Greg and me have a look around." Sara had found a way to get up on the hill. There was a little road, worse than the dirt road to the crime scene, but no problem for their car.

"You trust me that I take care of you?"

"I trust you with my life, Nina."

"Really?"

"Yes. If you let anything happen to me, Jules will kill you." Sara smiled a bit.

"So you trust that I'm too scared to make Jules mad."

"I trust you."

"You thought, I called an agent."

"I did for a moment. Sorry." Sara hated to admit it, but Nina was right. She had thought, the profiler had called her colleagues.

"It's what my boss expect me to do. I've to work out a reason why I didn't call him in case we find something important."

"Flat battery."

"What would your boss say if you tell him that?"

"Sara, just say you didn't want to call me, there's no reason to lie, I always know when you're lying." Greg chuckled. "Nobody, who knows Sara, would believe her such a lie."

"It happened; once."

"Yeah but if it happens in this case, under these circumstances, Grissom knew, you didn't want him to call. Shall we call him, by the way? He wanted to be posted."

"We can call him if we found something."

"Flat battery?" Nina asked sweet.

"Yes."

"We'll all get in trouble."

"Only if we find something and then everybody will be too excited because it's new evidence and might lead us to the killer."

"Why do I do this?" Nina closed her eyes. Why was she doing this? She knew, it had trouble written all over it and she didn't do anything to get away.

"Because we're partners in crime." Sara stopped the car. They were on top of the little hill. No other car was around, but she didn't expect whoever had been here, to wait for them. Their car had been visible the whole time. Enough time for the suspect to leave the hill and drive somewhere else.

"Greg, take the right side of the car, I take the left. Nina can take care of us."

"I doubt somebody is here." Nina took a look around. The area wasn't good if you wanted to hide somewhere. Only a few thin and small bushes, a few rocks, nothing an adult could use to hide. It shouldn't be a problem for her to overview the area and make sure, nobody surprised Sara and Greg while they were looking for evidence.

"I guess she took off that way." Nina pointed to the other side of the hill. Skid marks ran that way. Out of sight for the FBI agents at the scene, away from them. The profiler tried to find a car, but there was nothing. But with these little hills, bigger rocks further away and the sand in the air, it wasn't easy to see a lot that was further away. In fact, if she wouldn't know it was an ongoing crime scene a mile away, she had no idea what these little dots were doing. She barely saw them.

"Skid marks look different to the ones I saw at the scene." Sara took some photos.

"My guess is the killer brought the car on a tow car and watched us in an SUV. You can't go here with a SUV." Greg looked for oil or anything else that could give him a hint about the car. "Did you see a car when you saw the blinking?"

"No. I didn't see a person either. It was only this blinking, that made me think, somebody was watching us."

"It took us almost ten minutes to come here, our killer had enough time to vanish."

"Or to find a new place." Nina got her gun back in the holster. She doubted here was something to secure. "Do you have binoculars with you?"

"Somewhere in the car."

"I'll have a look around if our killer maybe changed positions and watches us now. Two scenes, twice the entertainment."

"Be careful, an agent might see you, thinks we're the killer and comes up. You need a very good explanation then." Sara grinned.

"Stop being cheeky, CSI, do your bloody job and find some evidence."

* * *

"I should spank your backside." Sofia pushed Sara with her body in front of the car, so that the brunette was caught.

"Why?"

"Entering a crime scene without an officer by your side, who secured the scene."

"Oh, we had an agent with us. You know, nobody is as good as the FBI."

"If you ever do something like that again, you'll be in big trouble, Miss."

"Really?" Sara was amused. Sofia was not scary, not to her.

"Really."

"I'll bear that in mind." She wrapped her arms around Sofia and pulled the detective closer. "Are you off the clock?"

"Otherwise there would be a dozen cops and the Feds with me. I couldn't call for back-up because I knew, you guys were flying solo and unofficial."

"Nina secured the scene, whoever was here was long gone before we arrived. We've some skid marks, that's it."

"Are you done?"

"Almost. Do you want to play CSI and have a look around with us? Or will you be the big protector?"

"I'll have a look around, let's keep Nina on watch. She looks good with a gun."

"What will your date say if he hears that?"

"He'd agree, Sara." Sofia smirked and got out of Sara's arms. "Where didn't you look so far?"

"We've got almost the whole area covered, there was nothing up here, we thought, we'll have a look at the slope, maybe our suspect dropped something, that will tell us, who she is."

"Okay. I'm sure we'll find some garbage." Sofia took her gloves and started to walk to the dirt road, that ran down the hill on the other side. The way, whoever had been here, had taken to escape.

She hadn't been completely honest to Sara. There was one person, who knew where she was: Jim. She had sent him a text, telling him about the call and she was about the check it out and let him know, if there were any evidence. Her boss supported her, he didn't tell her to call the Feds, he didn't tell her, to stay away to step on no toes. All he wanted was to be the first to know if they found something helpful.

"Guys?" Greg was almost done with his search area when he saw something, he was sure his colleagues and friends wanted to see as well.

"Ladies?" Nina offered. She was the first one who was by Greg's side. "Oh shit."

"What do you have?" Sara and Sofia arrived at the same time and looked over Greg's shoulder. There was a little note left on a sheet of paper, that was stuck on a small branch. The paper was clean, it wasn't here long and there were only two words written on.

"Bye-bye." Sara mumbled.

"If this is a note of the killer…" Sofia started.

"…it means, she's gone now." Nina fulfilled the sentence.

"And we lost our chance to get her." Greg didn't dare to move another step to get the paper.

"This note could be left by anybody. In fact, the wind could have blown it to here from wherever, there's no evidence, it has anything to do with our case." Sara didn't want to believe the killer had left. She didn't want the killer to escape, to go anywhere else and never be found.

"We need to inform the others." Greg's voice sounded like he hoped one of his friends would disagree.

"I need to call Grissom."

"I need to call Brass."

"I need to find an explanation to my boss why I'm here."

"We saw something on our way back. You didn't want to alert them before you knew, it's something important." Sara offered an excuse.

"Something like that." She took her cell phone and dialed a number. "It's me, Nina. I'm around a mile south east of you, on a hill, you can see it. We found something you might want to see, it could be important." She waited for a few seconds. "Alright."

"They're coming?"

"He'll send a few guys over and I'm sure, he'll be here too."

"He didn't ask on the phone?"

"He'll ask when he's here. I've to work on my story."

"I'll bag the evidence." Finally Greg's legs worked again. Carefully he stepped down to the sheet of paper and bagged it.

"Jim's on his way, he calls Grissom, picks him up. They'll be here in twenty something."

"Means, we've to deal with the FBI alone." Sara took some photos of the paper. She wanted to use the evidence as long as she had access to it.

"Nina, what do you think, is it possible that the killer leaves Vegas and stops killing?" Sofia tried to have an eye for the FBR cars. So far, there was nothing to see.

"I don't think she'll stop killing forever, not until she's done with what she wanted to do. We don't know if there's a list of people she wants dead. Maybe she's done, maybe here are too many people for her and she'll move to another place, somewhere quiet and ends her list there. We don't have enough on her to tell what's going on in her mind. I doubt, she wanted it like this, but I'm sure she thought about this step and planed it as good and careful as all the other steps she had made so far. There won't be any fingerprints on the paper, there won't be any evidence of where she lives. I bet it's a paper you get in every shop, in packages of five hundred, she paid cash, she handed the paper with gloves, used a pen you get anywhere as a souvenir or a gift. We'll need a lot of luck if we want something to work on."

"Do you have anything positive for us?" Sara didn't want to hear what she wasn't able to find, what she wouldn't be able to do, she wanted to know, what she could do.

"If it's her goodbye note, they FBI will be gone soon."

"You'll hunt her to wherever she'll go now."

"We'll try."

"She might come back if you guys are gone. Or she won't leave at all, wants everybody to believe she's gone, but stays in Vegas. All she has to do is change her pattern and we won't notice it's her, who is killing."

"Serial killer like her don't change their pattern. She'll stick to her poison, she'll stick to her rose. It means something to her, it's the thing all the victims have in common and she needs this connection. Otherwise the killing has no sense for her."

"No matter what her reason is, it won't make any sense to me." Sara couldn't think of a good reason to kill so many people.

"In how much trouble are you?"

"Could be worse." Nina sat next to Sara. They were on Sara's balcony. It was late in the afternoon, both were awake for around thirty hours. When Sara came home, her first intention was to drop on her bed and forget everything else. Then she realized, she wasn't calm enough to sleep now.

"You?"

"Grissom knew what we were doing. He told me as my supervisor I've to call the FBI when I find evidence, but he couldn't say anything when I told him, we had the FBI with us and we needed to check out first if there was something. As soon as we found the message, we called the FBI, Jim and him."

"You got away with this lame excuse because it was arranged like that."

"There's no evidence for that."

"No physical, no." Nina smiled a bit and sipped on her coffee.

"Are they still working on the message?"

"Yes. It will take some more time."

"We were sent away."

"No surprise there. It's the case of the FBI."

"Your case."

"Our case, Sara. Don't forget, there's a cooperation."

"A cooperation, that is based on we can work on what you let us work on; after you've finished it."

"You're a stubborn head."

"Didn't Jules tell you?" Sara chuckled.

"She never made it that obvious."

"Shame on her. Where is she, by the way?"

"In her office. She wasn't called in to see the message. She has a copy, will work with that. What I can tell you is, that she and me agree on the meaning of the message."

"Has there ever been something you haven't agreed on?"

"We do have arguments, yes."

"I hope nothing serious."

"No. So far we can talk everything out. Conversations are helpful. They stop arguments, help to avoid them and let you sleep better at night. Day."

"Do you think I need a therapist, Nina?"

"You've got a therapist, Sara. A very good one."

"I'm not talking about Jules, she's a friend, not a therapist. Otherwise I had two therapist, because I'm in the lucky position to have two friends who are therapists." Sara took Nina's hand. It was important to her to make it clear, that she saw Nina as a friend. They weren't as close as Sara was to Greg, Sofia or Jules, but Nina was a friend and she was very important to Sara.

"Thanks. But do you think, you would talk to a stranger about the things that haunt you? Do you think, you can open up to somebody, you only see once a month? You don't know, have no proof of, if he or she is worth your trust. Is that something, that can help you or is it only a waste of time?"

"In my eyes any kind of therapy is a waste of time. But I know what you mean, and no, I don't think I can open up to somebody I don't know."

"See, that's why Jules is perfect for you. She is your friend, you trust her, she sees a friend in you, not a patient but she can give you the same advice she gives a patient, who is in your shoes."

"True. She's perfect."

"You are the only woman who is allowed to say that about my girlfriend, with this smile on your face and this sparkle in your eyes. If anybody else said that, I'd be very jealous."

"It's good to know that even a therapist can be jealous, makes you people more human." Sara grinned. A little mistake was something, that made people loveable. People, who were perfect – or seemed to be perfect – were boring. And something was wrong with them because there are no perfect people.


End file.
